Featuring commentary on educational technology from down in the trenches.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

"Kindergarten Classrooms Seem to Get It Right"

"When students become teachers of others, they learn as much as those they are teaching." — Steve Ventura

"We do not need educators who loudly proclaim to not get it when it comes to computers. We would not tolerate an educator in the 19th and 20th Centuries to loudly proclaim to not get it when it comes to reading books. This Century requires a new literacy and there is less and less room for illiterate educators to work alongside those who constantly strive to remain relevant." — Thomas Whitby

"I would not send my own children to any school that puts children in rows of desks facing a podium. To me, that is the ultimate red flag. . . .I’ve noticed two things: 1) in general, elementary schools — and in particular kindergarten classrooms — seem to get it right more often than their secondary school counterparts 2) in general, the more ‘august' a school, the more likely the classroom design signifies outdated pedagogy." — Shelly Blake-Plock

"Educators need to create classrooms they would want to learn in [and] assist learners in creating a present & future that want to live in." — Jackie Gerstein

"The buzz around ‘curation,’ once a term rarely heard outside of art museums, mirrors a broader obsession with customization. In a digital realm where we expect everything from news feeds to Twitter timelines to be filtered for personal preference, no one wants to be fed from a generic music genre. ‘We're way past the point of “play me some rock’” — Charlie Hellman, vice president of product for Spotify." — John Jurgensen